The death knell has sounded for expanding casino gambling in New Hampshire, even if enthusiasts like Sen. Lou D'Allesandro and some of our Seacoast legislative delegation won't admit it.

We have long warned of unstable casino tax revenues and the problems confronting the industry in states such as Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Contrary to what casino backers would have you believe, there is no pot of gold waiting to fill state coffers here in New Hampshire.

That point could not have been made much clearer than by a Wall Street Journal article published Friday, June 20, titled: “Casino Glut Pinches States.”

Write authors Scott Calver and Jon Kamp:

“Racetrack casinos used to contribute as much as $240 million a year to Delaware's tax coffers. But as the Northeast becomes saturated with gambling venues, the state's casino revenue has tumbled, prompting a new industry request — for a tax break.”

That saturation includes 26 casinos opening in the Northeast since 2004 — with Massachusetts soon to join the crowd with up to four more.

The Journal goes on to cite a Fitch Ratings report which said the Northeastern market “is reaching a saturation point.”

This is similar to shakeouts elsewhere, including Indiana and Mississippi.

With the decline in casino revenues, some have gone hat in hand to the government for tax cuts

In Delaware, Democratic Gov. Jack Markell supports reducing the tax burden on casinos by $20 million a year to help them compete, writes The Journal.

This despite already having to cut 538 public jobs over the past five years and seeing Ocean County, N.J., “no longer offer(ing) low-cost rides for new dialysis patients because of a dip in casino revenues that fund programs for the elderly and disabled.”

Since Rhode Island approved video-gambling machines in 1992, its reliance on casino dollars has grown, notes the Journal.

And now it must pay the piper. It is projected Rhode Island will lose about $422 million in casino revenue over the next five years.

Thankfully, New Hampshire has resisted.

The last bill to be proposed in the New Hampshire Legislature offered nearly everyone a piece of the gambling pie, as if it would always be there. To sweeten that casino pie proponents included $25 million in state aid to local communities to provide property tax relief.

It was a bribe written on whole cloth that nearly worked. Thankfully, the bill failed by one vote in the House.

And when it came time to reconsider as the legislative process is allowed to do, it was game over for this legislative session.

The key moving forward will be to remind our legislators of the folly suffered elsewhere and to be avoided in the Granite State.

That can be done at the ballot box in November to those who won't listen.